Film rewinding apparatus



March 18, 1952 P. F. GLENN 2,590,005

FILM REWINDING APPARATUS Filed March 31, 1949 INVEN TOR.

P6 fer- F 676m? Patented Mar. 18, 1952 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE FILM REWINDING APPARATUS Peter F. Glenn, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application March 31, 1949, Serial No. 84,579

1 Claim. (01. 242--55) This invention relates to an apparatus for rewinding motion picture film.

In the moving picture industry, it is necessary after a film has been projected to rewind it, and during this process, the winder looks the film over very carefully for breaks, scratches and the like. Also, after a moving picture theater operator has finished with a film, it is returned to the distributor. At the distributors the film is also rewound and carefully inspected before it goes out again. It has been the practice to rewind these films on a machine having a horizontal shaft. In doing this, the film does not wind evenly on the spools whereby high points are formed on the sides of the film.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a winding machine whereby film will be wound on a spool supported on a vertically disposed shaft so that damage to the sides of the film will be prevented.

Another object of the invention is to provide a film winding machine which will enable the user to observe the film during the rewinding process so that breaks, scratches and the like can be readily detected.

Another object of the invention is to provide a film winding machine which is extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application and in which like numerals are used to designate like parts throughout the same:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the film winding apparatus, according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus; and

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view showing certain constructional details of the apparatus.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the nu meral I6 designates a horizontally disposed base or supporting surface, Figures 1 and 2. Supported on the base I and secured thereto is a rectangular frame or pedestal A which may be made of any suitable material. Projecting from the pedestal A is a short shaft II, Figure 1, the shaft I I lying in a vertical plane. Rotatably supported on the vertically disposed shaft II is a horizontally disposed spool I2 which has wound thereon film strip I3.

Arranged in spaced relation with respect to the pedestal A is a second pedestal B which may be secured to the base II] in any suitable manner.

A, vertically disposed shaft [4 projects through the top of the pedestal B, there bein suitable bearings I5 and I6 arranged in engagement with the shaft l4. The lower end of the shaft I4 has secured thereto a horizontally disposed bevel gear I! which is arranged in meshing engagement with a vertically disposed bevel gear I8. The bevel gear I8 is mounted on a horizontally disposed'shaft I9, and the shaft I9 is rotatably supported by the side members 20 of the pedestal B. A suitable handle 2I is provided for rotating the shaft I9.

The upper end of the shaft I4 is threaded exteriorly as at 22 for a purpose to be later described. A first arcuate or concaved disc 23 has a central apertured hub 24 through which extends the shaft I4. A spool 25 is positioned or circumposed on the shaft I4 and is arranged above the disc 23. Arranged above the spool 25 is a second arcuate flexible disc 26 which is provided with a central threaded hub or aperture 21 therein. The disc 26 and the disc 23 serves to maintain the spool 25 in alignment.

In use, the spool I2 having film strip I3 wound thereon is supported on the vertically disposed shaft II.

The present invention provides a machine for rewinding the film strip l3 onto a second spool 25, and during the process of rewinding, the operator is readily able to detect any defects in the film and further, the construction of the machine assures that damage to the film strip during the rewinding will be prevented. Thus, the film strip I3 is arranged so that its free end is in engagement with a portion of the spool 25. In many instances, the spool 25 may be bent or out of shape as the result of its previous use, and therefore the machine herein shown serves to straighten out or correctly align such faulty spools. Thus, a first flexible arcuate disc 23 is positioned on the shaft I4, then the spool 25 is supported or arranged above the disc 23 and finally a second arcuate disc 26 is positioned above the spool 25. The disc 26 is provided with a threaded aperture 21 so that the user need only screw the disc 26 down onto the threaded portion 22 of the shaft I4 to thereby cause the discs 23 and 26 to assume the position shown in Figure 3, whereby the spool 25 will be correctly and evenly held therebetween.

To rewind the film, the operator turns the handle 2| which causes the shaft I4 to rotate whereby the spool 25 will be rotated to wind the film strip I3 thereon. In setting up the device, the spool I2 is arranged so that the film strip I3 twists or turns as at T, Figures 1 and 2, during the passage of the strip from the spool l2 to the spool 25. Since the film strip I3 is given a twist or turn, the operator will be able to readily detect any defects such as scratches or breaks in the film. Further, the turning of the film insures that the film strip l3 will go onto the spool 25 on a partial slant so that the sides of the strip 13 will not drag on the sides of the spool 25 whereby damage will be prevented to the film strip.

Further, the spool [2 from which the film strip [3 is being wound, may also be bent or out of shape and there is provided a means for straightening this spool. This means has the same struc' ture and function as the previously described apparatus for insuring a correct and even alignment of the spool 25. Thus, the shaft H has its upper end threaded exteriorly as at 28 and a pair of arcuate flexible discs 23 and 26 are arranged on each side of the spool I2 and functions as previously described.

While I have shown a specific embodiment of my invention, this is by way of illustration only and I consider as my own as such variations in construction as fairly fall within the scope of the appended claim.

Iclaim: &

In a film re-winding apparatus, an elongated base,- a pedestal having the form of a vertically elongated open rectangular frame rising from said base, a second pedestal having a substantial- 1y rectangular open frame rising from said base in spaced relation with respect to the first pedestal and of an equal height, vertical bearings mounted on the upper and lower sides of the top side. of each of said pedestals, a shaft journalled through each of said bearings, spools keyed in a common plane on said shafts above the top sides of said pedestals, a bevel gear keyed on the lower end of the shaft carried by said second pedestal, another shaft journalled horizontally of said second pedestal below said gear and having an end projecting from its outer side, a second bevel gear keyed on the inner end of the latter shaft and meshed with the first named gear, and a hand crank keyed on the projecting end of said latter shaft.

PETER F. GLENN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 714,845 White Dec. 2, 1902 1,097,686 Stephens May 26, 1914.- 1,215,066 Shipman Feb. 6, 1917 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date I 4,405 Great Britain of 1898 320,053 Great Britain Oct. 2, 1929 

